Cam Newton Says Winning Close Games Builds 'Character, Chemistry And Confidence'
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Patriots snapped their four-game losing streak on Monday night, barely beating the winless New York Jets. The victory has led to some mixed emotions surrounding the New England football team.
There's obviously some joy over the Patriots snapping their skid and not becoming the first team to lose to the New York Jets this season. But there isn't much excitement over barely beating the New York Jets, even if the win was of the walk-off variety.
"Tough crowd," quarterback Cam Newton said on his Tuesday morning appearance on WEEI. "But for real, say what you want. This is the NFL and it's not a movie title, it's literally any given Sunday. You have to bring your lunch pail every single day and execute."
While beating the Jets 30-27 on a last-second field goal wasn't the prettiest of Patriots victories in recent memory, Newton believes it will go a long way toward helping the 2020 Patriots becoming a better football team.
"Did we keep the game relatively close, in our opinion, more than we wanted to? Absolutely. But the games we've been in this year as a team, if you can win those you build character, chemistry and confidence," he said. "Winning 30-10 , those are great wins. But when you win 24-21, you realize that you can find a way to win. This year we hadn't been finding ways to win close games. This is going to come up again, and we have to have situational football. Instead of guys being more tense in close games, we can still stay relaxed and find ways to win because we've been in these situations so many times this year."
The Patriots are now 3-5 on the season, and despite that sub-.500 record, their postseason hopes are still alive. Newton said that winning games is all that matters going forward.
"The most important stat in all of sports is not how many home runs you hit, how many three-pointers you make or touchdowns you throw or ran. The most important statistic in sports is wins and losses," he said. "I don't care how you get it or how you muffle it away. If we can get that win week in and week out, I'll take that important statistic over anything else."
Newton, who is playing on a one-year contract, scoffed at the notion of the Patriots potentially tanking the rest of the season.
"You play to win the game. It's simple. We're halfway through a season where everything we want is in front of us," said Newton. "I cant speak for nobody else and I can only speak for myself. But I know when I say that we're close, we're extremely close. We have to keep putting in great practices that will lead to in-game reality so we'll be comfortable after games.
"We understand last night wasn't perfect, but we had the opportunities and we made the most of them," he said. "It was a much needed divisional win and hopefully we can ride this momentum into the next couple of games."